Red Flag Warning for Lake Tahoe Tuesday

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The National Weather Service in Reno has issued a Red Glag Warning from noon to 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, August 25. They are calling for a chance of thunderstorms and strong outflow winds in the Lake Tahoe area.

There is the possibility of isolated to scattered thunderstorms with little, or limited, rainfall though the storms may be a hybrid of wet and dry. The faster storm motions will likely allow for lightning strikes outside of the main thunderstorm cores. With fire fighting resources already stretched thin, any new fire starts will be an issue.

Lightning can create new fire starts and may combine with strong outflow winds to cause a fire to rapidly grow in size and intensity before first responders can contain them.

The outflow winds could produce wind gusts of 35 to 45 mph.

During Red Flag Days, all sources of flame are banned from the Lake Tahoe Basin. No barbeques - gas, propane or charcoal and no outdoor fire pits are allowed until the warning is over.